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A picture is worth…. You know. But the newest research on social media suggests a picture is worth even more than a thousand words when it comes to strengthening your company’s brand.

Bohme Boutique has increased its engagement and sales by more than 180% by using visual media in direct emails, Facebook, and Twitter. (Photo courtesy of Bohme)

There’s a strong trend in social media toward all things visual. A 2012 study by ROI Researchshows that with more people engaging with social media from smartphones (63% of the 1,297 people queried), they’re discovering that taking pictures on the go with a high-resolution smartphone is much easier than typing out a status update.

Pictures top the list of things social media users enjoy seeing from their friends, with women enjoying and responding to pictures the most, while men rank videos, links and jokes at the top of their preference list.

Forty-four percent of respondents are more likely to engage with a brand or a product if they post a picture. Pictures have become one of the top de facto methods of sorting and understanding the vast amount of information we see every day. (Forbes articles are no exception– articles with interesting and relevant pictures next to them receive vastly higher numbers of re-postings and views.)

Kirk Tanner, Fishbowl CMO, won the 2012 SAMY (Sales and Marketing Executive of the Year) award from Utah Business Magazine for his strategies, including the YouTube video series “Kirk’s Tackle Shop” to make inventory principles more interesting for light manufacturing companies, which are typically headed by men. Video content provides extra SEO benefits to a company’s branding efforts, as well.

Detavio Samuals, EVP at advertising agency GlobalHue says pictures are bit like movie trailers – they provide just a snippet of what the article, brand, site or longer piece of content is about so you can decide in the space of an instant whether you want to pursue the item further or not.

For example, when Bohme Boutique – a women-owned Utah business covered by Forbes on Aug. 30 – wanted to expand beyond their local regional market they turned to highly visual email and social media campaigns and profits have soared— the company is on track for $16M in revenue for 2012 and is forecasting $28M in 2013.

Wendia – a provider of helpdesk software – is another company that took a giant step towards a more user-friendly brand and reputation when they issued this video – Wendia to the Rescue – earlier this year:

What does this mean for your company? For publishers – lead with a picture. For commercial brands, visual stimulation is key – posts of pictures provide more response and interaction than any other kind of post. Fashion designers are making Facebook and Pinterest the centerpiece of their online marketing plans.

Whether they’re selling IT software, boutique clothing, food, entertainment or professional services – in today’s market, the companies that can rock visual media most effectively are reigning supreme.

What kind of visual media is your company using? How are your current strategies working for you? As always, I welcome your thoughts.

Additional reporting for this article was provided by Kirk Tanner, Fishbowl CMO.